PBH To Maximize Food Guidance System Opportunities

With the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new “food guidance system” expected to be released any day now, PBH is poised to make the most of this opportunity to help America heap their plates with fruits and vegetables. PBH expects that this new system, which will replace the now-obsolete Food Guide Pyramid, will communicate USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ recommendations to eat more fruits and vegetables than any other food group, for better health.

PBH plans to publicize the system’s fruit and vegetable advice to consumer media nationwide, and to provide tools to help industry members spread this news to their various publics. At the same time, PBH will unveil its National Action Plan to Promote Health through Increased Fruit & Vegetable Consumption, inviting key influencers that have an effect on America’s eating behavior – such as policy and law makers, retailers, foodservice operators, educators, employers, researchers and the health care industry – to help grow consumption for America’s better health. Stay tuned for more information, or contact PBH’s Director of Public Relations Christine Filardo, MS, RD.

New Resource Provides Insight to Schools’ Success

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has just released Making It Happen! School Nutrition Success Stories. It tells the stories of 32 innovative schools and school districts that have improved the nutritional quality of foods and beverages on school campuses, outside of school meals, and features PBH as a go-to reference. The take-away: students will buy and consume healthful foods and beverages, and schools can make money from these healthful options. For your free copy of Making It Happen!, visit FNS’s Team Nutrition.

According to a recent report by National 5 A Day Partnership member American Cancer Society (ACS), at least 50 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented through healthier diet and lifestyle choices. The annual report, Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts and Figures 2005, which explores cancer risk factors that people can control and change, reveals that the country is setting new records for being overweight and out of shape. Recommendations to combat these trends include eating at least 5 servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day. View the report.

The importance of parents’ attitudes and behavior to their children’s fruit and vegetable intake was shown in two recent studies in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA). British researchers studying factors influencing young children’s fruit and vegetable consumption found that parents’ behavior was the strongest predictor of young children’s consumption. Wardle and colleagues surveyed the parents of 896 children aged 2-6 years in 22 London nursery schools, reported neophobia – fear of trying new foods – and parent control explained only a small amount of cases. (Source: Wardle J. et al. JADA, February 2005; vol. 105, no. 2, pp. 227-232. View or purchase the abstract.

And parents remain influential at least into adolescence, according to another study published in the same journal. European researchers who surveyed 11-12 year olds found a strong relationship between students’ preferences for fruits and vegetables and their perception of both their parents’ and peers’ eating behaviors – more so than children’s attitudes or social and environmental influences. The take-home message: parents should make fruits and vegetables available, and lead by example. (Source: Vreecken C.A. et al. JADA vol. 105 no. 2, pp. 257-261. View or purchase the abstract.

For more information about these and other fruit and vegetable studies, contact PBH Nutrition Research Manager Kathy Hoy, EdD, RD.

Fruit and vegetable consumption is influenced by a broad range of synergistic factors, including perceptions of food cost, household education and composition, ethnicity and dining-out trends, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). The new ERS report examines some of the demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing consumption behavior, and the interrelationships among them. Since no single factor determines consumer choice, the report suggests that fruit and vegetable promotion should encompass flexible strategies for accommodating a range of consumer preferences and lifestyles. View the ERS article.

According to new research, the average American living 50 years from now can expect to have his life shortened by two to five years by obesity. This would be the first time in modern history that the average life span has shortened, rather than lengthened. The National Institutes of Health's Institute on Aging noted that the decline can be avoided by controlling weight with proper diet and physical activity. The study, by researchers at the University of Illinois-Chicago appeared in the March 17 New England Journal of Medicine. View or purchase the abstract.

Several members of the National 5 A Day Partnership recently lent their expertise to policy co-chair National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity’s (NANA) model school wellness policies. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandated that schools that receive federal meal funds must implement wellness policies to address nutrition and physical activity by the start of the 2006 school year. Partnership members including American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and PBH, helped develop or have endorsed the model NANA policies, which promote fruits and vegetables heavily. For example, the model policies push for schools to offer a greater variety of fruits and vegetables, with greater frequency, throughout the day and across the entire school campus, and suggest schools include fun, age-appropriate, culturally diverse activities such as taste testing, farm visits and school gardens. For more information, view NANA’s model wellness policies, or contact PBH Nutrition Policy Specialist Tracy Fox, MPH, RD.

Expanding the successful U.S. Department of Agriculture Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program is a top priority for many 5 A Day advocates in 2005, and PBH’s Nutrition Policy Specialist Tracy Fox, MPH, RD, recently took the message to attendees of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Conference. Fox plugged the program in a packed session to local and state health department and school-based professionals, as well as federal officials. She was joined by North Carolina State 5 A Day Program Coordinator Diane Beth, MS, RD, who spoke about her state’s successful experience with the program.

And succeed it has – feedback from teachers, administrators and students across the country indicates that the program is making a positive impact on fruit and vegetable consumption. In South Dakota, more students are choosing fruit and vegetable snacks over chips and pretzels; students in Pennsylvania are asking for more fruits and vegetables at home. Beth noted that teachers and principals in her state report improved classroom behavior, while a state coordinator in Mississippi reported being greeted at a school’s door with a grateful personal thanks by the principal.

To find out how you can help expand the snack program to your state, visit United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association’s online Snack Program Resource Center, or contact PBH’s Tracy Fox.

North Carolina’s 5 A Day coalition recently hosted a state wellness forum to brainstorm ways to help the state – which ranks 34th out of 50 states in 5 A Day achievers – become healthier. The forum brought together health workers, community activists, farmers’ market organizers and nutritionists. One idea forum participants explored was Fit City Challenge, an online program that logs participants’ daily nutrition and exercise that awards points that county workers can redeem for extra vacation time. The forum was organized by the state’s 5 A Day program coordinator; for more information, view the Charlotte Observer’s report on the forum, or contact State Coordinator Diane Beth, MS, RD.

Eat 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and exercise five times a week for 30 minutes are the goals of North Dakota’s “On the Move” program, a health incentive program running in that state through the end of June. Part of the state’s 5 Plus 5 program, “On the Move” encourages participants to develop and maintain an exercise program by offering free classes, one-time “try it” sessions to explore new activities, incentive gifts and prize drawings. For more information, view the Valley City Times Record’s article, or contact the program’s coordinator Susan Mormann.

Even a small corner grocer can make a big difference in customers’ fruit and vegetable consumption, reports InsideBayArea.com. In a San Francisco neighborhood with limited access to quality fresh fruit and vegetables, one community retailer who adds fresh fruits and vegetables to his inventory to meet his customers’ specific health and diet needs is making a big impact – both in the health of his community, and in his bottom line. View the full article.